The present invention relates to a hand-written character/graphic recognizer, and more particularly to a method for designating a recognition mode necessary to separate hand-written characters/graphics.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 55-143681 entitled "Hand-writing Word Processor Using a Tablet" (laid open Nov. 10, 1980), function keys are provided to designate a recognition mode of characters/graphics graphics so that an operator depresses them by a stylus. In this designation method, the function key must be depressed whenever a hand-written character/graphic is to be entered and hence it has a low non-machine interface.
Japanese patent publication No. 58-42513 entitled "Real-time Hand-written Character Recognizer" (published Sept. 20, 1983) teaches the designation of recognition modes in the character recognition, such as alphanumeric mode, Katakana mode, Kanji mode and Hirakana mode. In this recognizer, the number of input strokes is examined and if it is larger than a predetermined number, the recognition mode is automatically switched to the Kanji/Hirakana mode.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-105084 entitled "Method for Separating Characters from Graphics" (laid open June 30, 1982) discloses a method for recognizing characters separately from graphics. A drawing containing both characters and graphics is read by a scanner and the read image is repeatedly enlarged or reduced to separate the characters from the graphics in an off-line method. It relates to an off-line recognition in which characters and graphics are written or drawn on a sheet which is then scanned for recognition. It cannot be applied to an on-line hand-written character/graphic recognition.
Thus, in the past, there has been no effective method for automatically designating the recognition mode for the characters/graphics in the hand-written character/graphic recognizer. When a drawing containing characters is to be prepared, the operator must designate the recognition mode and the man-machine interface is not excellent.